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Men's Swimming and Diving Friday, February 05, 2016 WIU Athletic Communications

Leathernecks Battle at Iowa Wraps Up Regular Season

Naumann encouraged by strong swims and dives leading to the Summit League Championships

Full Meet Results

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Western Illinois swimming and diving squads competed in their final regular season meet of the year, with the men falling at Iowa Friday (Feb. 5) 147-71 and the women losing 144-61.

"Iowa is always a tough opponent, but they do prepare us for what we typically see out of Denver at our conference meet," said head coach Greg Naumann. "Even though Iowa is as fast as they are, we were still able to accomplish some of what I was hoping to see out of our swims. The team definitely gave me a little bit more insight into what our relays will most likely look like at conference, and some even muddied the water by having some really good swims tonight."

In the men's 50-fly, Chris Neaveill (22.22) was just out-touched by Iowa's Jerzy Twarowski (22.19) to come in second. Western also took third and fourth in the event, with Drake Stierman (25.48) and Ryan Miller (25.55), respectively.

The Leatherneck men pulled off the same feat in each of their next five events. In the 100-free, Dylon Rykosky (48.53) finished second ahead of Josh Hill (49.04) and Matt Abercrombie (54.51). Samir Almhiemid finished a little more than a second off the pace in the 50-back in 24.33 for second place. John Hall (24.78) took third and Stierman registered a fourth-place touch in 28.42.

Abercrombie (4:43.40), Deven Ries (4:57.36) and Cameron Van De Velde (4:59.54) compiled slots 2-4 in the 500-free, and JD Furr (26.76), Chance McQuigg (27.32) and Shawn Farrar (27.97) did the same in the 50-breast. The relay squadron of Rykosky, Hall, Chris Neaveill and Tyler Neaveill finished second in the 200-free relay in 1:24.96, ahead of the team of Hill, Nick Bonneville, Jared Johnstone and Farrar (1:28.90), who came in third.

On the women's side, Natalie Cumbie's 28.74 touch in the 50-fly earned her a second-place spot, just in front of Amy Borgstede (29.01). Erica Hagen (57.57), Alli DeWane (58.07) and Brittany Erickson (1:02.90) followed that up by swiping slots 2-4, respectively, in the 100-free.

Western continued its strong performance in the backend of the meet when Taylor Winkel (29.65) and Haley Locke (29.83) went 2-3, respectively, in the 50-back. Amanda Schaefer gathered second with a 5:28.82 time in the 500-free with Andie Villez garnering third in 5:28.82 and Katie Ferguson taking fourth in 6:00.01.

The Leathernecks again took 2-4 places in the 50-breast behind Sarah Rosenhauer (32.99), Villez (33.64) and Erickson (34.26). The Western women closed the meet with Marissa Purdum, Hagen, DeWane and Lizzie Hollopeter (1:42.02) finishing second in the 200-free relay, slightly in front of Winkel, Borgstede, Locke and Rosenhauer (1:48.39).

Viktor Rusenas recorded a 247.20 score to place second in the men's 3-meter dive. Quetzal Gallagher came in fourth at 238.70. In the 1-meter, Rusenas came in fifth with a 254.95 score with Gallagher behind him at 241.25. Melanie Pearson spun a 238.10 to come in fourth on the women's end of the 1-meter.

"The divers have also been looking very good," Naumann said. "They have been able to put in some very good quality practices during the week, and it has shown in their overall scores last week and at tonight's meet. We've battled some injuries with them throughout the second half of the season, but those are starting to get better, and their performances have resulted in them feeling better."

Western Illinois will break from competition until the four-day Summit League Championships in Indianapolis on February 17-20.

"We've got a little over a week and a half before we start our conference championship, so we will be resting even more as we come down the home stretch," said Naumann. "The times that we have seen as we have gone from our meet at Eastern, to being at home again Washington University and tonight's meet shows that we are starting to recover from our winter break training."

"The team is definitely starting to feel a little better now that we are backing off of working so hard in practice, and now is when we really see the little things finally come around and get fixed. Our eyes have always been focused on swimming well at conference, and we are getting close to being able to really show how hard we've worked all season long, and how competitive each individual is on the team."

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Players Mentioned

Amy Borgstede: Fly; Sophomore; Francis Howell

Natalie Cumbie: Fly/Dist.; Junior; Home School

Brittany Erickson: Breaststroke; Junior; West

Lizzie Hollopeter: Back/Free; Senior; Matea Valley

Melanie Pearson: Diving; Junior; Franklin

Sarah Rosenhauer: Breast; Senior; Rock Bridge

Andie Villez: Breaststroke; Junior; Shawano

Taylor Winkel: Back; Sophomore; Lincoln

Erica Hagen: Breast/Sprint Free; Freshman; Lisle

Marissa Purdum: Sprint Free; Freshman; Burlington Community

Amanda Schaefer: Distance; Freshman; Arrowhead

Matt Abercrombie: Freestyle; Senior; Macomb

Players Mentioned

Amy Borgstede
: Sophomore; Francis Howell
: Fly

Natalie Cumbie
: Junior; Home School
: Fly/Dist.

Brittany Erickson
: Junior; West
: Breaststroke

Lizzie Hollopeter
: Senior; Matea Valley
: Back/Free

Melanie Pearson
: Junior; Franklin
: Diving

Sarah Rosenhauer
: Senior; Rock Bridge
: Breast

Andie Villez
: Junior; Shawano
: Breaststroke

Taylor Winkel
: Sophomore; Lincoln
: Back

Erica Hagen
: Freshman; Lisle
: Breast/Sprint Free

Marissa Purdum
: Freshman; Burlington Community
: Sprint Free

Amanda Schaefer
: Freshman; Arrowhead
: Distance

Matt Abercrombie
: Senior; Macomb
: Freestyle